How to plan a trip to a new country

[007 Game]

I'm leaving to NZ and AU in about a week. Only today I started planning the trip, which will be at least 6 weeks long.

When planning a visit to a new country, this is what I do. Let me know if you're doing things differently or have any suggestions:

1) Google "What to do in COUNTRY NAME"

2) Open every result on the first three pages in Google and copy paste the shit to do in that country into a word document.

3) After 4-5 resources, you'll know what are the top destinations and activities in that country.

4) After you've listed all places to visit - I go to Google and type "Things to do in X" and list shit to do in that location. For example "What to do in Wellington". I'll check Trip Advisor top recommendation and other lists from blogs / newspapers / TimeOut magazine etc.

5) I'll go to http://www.viator.com which is a company that lists all excursions and activities anywhere in the world, to see what they offer, get ideas for shit to do and see in each location.

For example: http://www.viator.com/North-Island/d128-ttd

6) Will Google "X Datasheet" for large (or small) cities in that country to see if there is a pick up datasheet on RooshV or here.

7) Will check organized tour companies such a Gadventures to see what routes and activities they offer in that country, to see that I didn't miss anything. For example:

https://www.gadventures.com/trips/new-zealand/

8) Will take a map out, will mark all the locations I need to visit in the country and construct a route.

9) For the top activities I want to do, I'll check if booking in advance is needed. If it is a must, I'll do it, but otherwise I won't book anything in advance as I want to stay as flexible as possible.

10) After I've constructed the route and what I'll do in every location, I'll head to the appropriate forum on TripAdvisor and will post it, asking fellow travelers what they think about the route / activities and if I've forgotten anything.

Any suggestions for this game plan? Any comments?

[NRgizR]

Hey 007,

thanks for your tips. I find them very valuable.

Websites I use for research:
http://wikitravel.org/en/New_Zealand
http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/New_Zealand

Apps I use for travelling:
- CityMaps2Go (Offline Maps, using OpenStreetMaps)
You can put a needle in spots, know where you are, make lists. Must have.
- Pocket (Make websites available in offline mode)

"I'll head to the appropriate forum on TripAdvisor and will post it"
Maybe CouchSurfing.org would be another good website to do that?

[Max]

Vov

This approach is good if you like staff that is organized for you and you have "deep pockets"...
there are advantages and disadvantages ....
the idea of the thread is good ....

[Shanked]

Good stuff, some places you may be interested 007 incase you missed.

Whit sundays/white haven beach
Wilpena pound
Fraser island
Little creatures brewery

Been to first 3 places and only heard great things about the brewery. Fun fact tasmania has 2nd largest tree in the world.

Which states are you visiting in aus? Btw if you are doing a long trip watch the show hamish and andy travel oz they did alot of crazy stuff.

[007 Game]

Thanks for the tips. Tripadvisor is very good for destination specific info, they have hundreds of sub forums for every region and tons of traffic and contributors.

[Don]

(11-28-2013, 09:45 PM)007 Game Wrote: I'm leaving to NZ and AU in about a week. Only today I started planning the trip, which will be at least 6 weeks long.

When planning a visit to a new country, this is what I do. Let me know if you're doing things differently or have any suggestions:

1) Google "What to do in COUNTRY NAME"

2) Open every result on the first three pages in Google and copy paste the shit to do in that country into a word document.

3) After 4-5 resources, you'll know what are the top destinations and activities in that country.

4) After you've listed all places to visit - I go to Google and type "Things to do in X" and list shit to do in that location. For example "What to do in Wellington". I'll check Trip Advisor top recommendation and other lists from blogs / newspapers / TimeOut magazine etc.

5) I'll go to http://www.viator.com which is a company that lists all excursions and activities anywhere in the world, to see what they offer, get ideas for shit to do and see in each location.

For example: http://www.viator.com/North-Island/d128-ttd

6) Will Google "X Datasheet" for large (or small) cities in that country to see if there is a pick up datasheet on RooshV or here.

7) Will check organized tour companies such a Gadventures to see what routes and activities they offer in that country, to see that I didn't miss anything. For example:

https://www.gadventures.com/trips/new-zealand/

8) Will take a map out, will mark all the locations I need to visit in the country and construct a route.

9) For the top activities I want to do, I'll check if booking in advance is needed. If it is a must, I'll do it, but otherwise I won't book anything in advance as I want to stay as flexible as possible.

10) After I've constructed the route and what I'll do in every location, I'll head to the appropriate forum on TripAdvisor and will post it, asking fellow travelers what they think about the route / activities and if I've forgotten anything.

Any suggestions for this game plan? Any comments?

I am down with 6,7,8,9, and 10, but don't you get a whole bunch of canned and sponsored results by simply using google? I did the same for my city and I could not believe the shit that was being recommended!

Actually, the reason why I am here was because I was tired of getting canned results. This site has been of great value, especially early on when I knew nothing.

I previously had no clue those sites regarding excursions existed. Thanks!